Part Eight: The Aftermath
The trial was over, and the twelve jurors were discharged. It was revealed it took seven hours of deliberation and six ballot votes before the jury reached the unanimous verdict: guilty of second-degree murder. Since he was cleared of the highway robbery charge in Overland Park, Uhls had expressed supreme confidence he would be similarly freed in Hutchinson. Numbed by the guilty verdict, Uhls and his family quietly left the courtroom. Judge J.R. Beeching, Dr. Uhls’ counsel, indicated he would file a motion for a new trial before Judge Fairchild. In the event the new trial was denied, Uhls would take an appeal to the state supreme court. Over in the adjoining county jail, Frank Leonard learned of the second-degree murder verdict. Showing no emotion, he remarked “If it was murder at all it was first degree.”
The motion for the new trial was submitted before Judge Fairchild on July 26. The motion was presented by former U.S. Senator, William H. Thompson, now a practicing attorney in Kansas City, Kansas. “The whole case of the state that Dr. Uhls must have been present when this crime was committed is based on the fact that he took a night trip into the state by motor car at the time of the crime,” said Senator Thompson. “The fact is the state has utterly failed to bring Uhls any closer to Hutchinson than Newton, and no nearer than Topeka at the time the crime must have been committed. Certainly, there has not been sufficient evidence presented to fill in all the links. We desire the opportunity to present evidence that will show absolutely that Dr. Uhls could not have been in Hutchinson at the time the crime was committed.” Senator Thompson also contended that the state’s claim that Gibbs was killed because Uhls wanted to get hold of the $102,000 of preferred stock Gibbs held in the Uhls clinic was shattered by the fact that when Gibbs was killed the stock had already been transferred to Uhls. “Gibbs was killed the night of December 29,” said Thompson. “The records show that at that time Uhls already had possession of this stock, it having been transferred to him ten days before that. Why in the name of goodness should he kill a man to get stock which he already had in his possession for ten days?”
Unfortunately for Uhls, even a power-house attorney and former six-year state senator could not provide the political or legal capital Uhls was seeking. Two days later, on July 28, Judge Fairchild overruled the motion for a new trial. On August 7, Dr. Kenn Uhls was sentenced to 25 years in the Kansas prison at Lansing. Uhls maintained a calm outward air as the sentence was passed, and blandly turned to talk to his attorney, J. R. Beeching, immediately afterward. He furnished a new $20,000 bond pending appeal. When asked by the court if he had anything to say, Uhls quietly declined.
Upon his sentencing, many editorials about Dr. Uhls and the criminal case were featured in several newspapers throughout Kansas. One editorial, appearing in the Newton Journal on August 29, 1924, declared:
Guilty or not guilty, Uhls has passed out of usefulness as a citizen and a doctor. It is a case of a desire for money to work out his ambition, in promoting a hospital with his name at the head, to become a ruling passion, until it grew into a lust, resorting to even murder to remove any obstacle. Doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, who are educated thru long culture courses without religion often become bigoted, cynical, over-ambitious conscienceless souls. Instead of helping, they are sharpened to prey on humanity.
The appeal to the state supreme court was filed on November 20, 1924. All the while, Dr. Uhls remained free on bond. Considered a flight risk, Uhls was prohibited from leaving the State of Kansas without the permission of the court, and he was required to check-in with his bail bondsman weekly.
O.P. Clinic To Be Rebranded
Meanwhile, plans were being prepared for the repurposing of the sanitarium in Overland Park under new ownership, consisting primarily by Hutchinson residents. Just what to do with the clinic that would bring some returns to the stockholders was a question. After weeks of negotiations, it was decided that on account of its beautiful location the clinic would be turned into a rest resort where tired businessmen and women, or anyone needing a quiet and serene surrounding, could stay in comfort and enjoy themselves. Plans were drawn to convert the grounds to a park that would feature a golf course. Horses would be kept for those who cared to ride them. Opportunities to garden vegetables and flowers would be provided. A world-class chef would be hired to prepare four-star meals. The building interiors would be completely refurnished and redecorated by both Hutchinson and Overland Park designers. It was anticipated the new resort would be open by mid-August.
The Frank Leonard Trial
The trial of Frank Leonard, also accused of murdering Gibbs, finally took place in September. The timing could not have been worse for Uhls, as his legal team was convinced that Leonard’s attorneys would point the finger of blame for the murder solely at Uhls. And that is precisely what they did. Leonard’s attorney, Williams H. Buck, declared in his opening statement that his client would take the stand “to tell the whole truth.” Among those truths were the statements, sworn under oath, that Uhls pressured Leonard into forging William Gibbs’ name on the stock certificates while a patient at the clinic, totally contradicting the story of the mysterious and never-located Charles Westerhaven, as presented in Uhls’ case. Leonard would also testify that Uhls took advantage of Leonard’s incapacitated state to try and persuade him to help rob a bank in Peabody, which Leonard said he was not comfortable doing. He also testified that Uhls left him in Peabody on the day of Gibbs’ murder, stating he had business to conduct in another town. Witnesses from the hotel in Peabody where the two were staying testified that they spoke with Leonard on the day of the murder, and that Dr. Uhls was not present at the time.
Perhaps the testimony most damaging to Uhls came on the second day of the trial. Attorney Buck told the jury that the day after Dr. Uhls had his client forge the names on the stock certificates, Leonard and another patient asked Dr. Uhls for a car to drive to Kansas City. Before leaving, Dr. Uhls handed Leonard a revolver with the wooden parts of the butt missing, and asked him to have a new handle put on it while in Kansas City. Gibbs was beaten to death with the butt end of a revolver, and wooden parts of the weapon were discovered at the crime scene.
After three days of testimony, the case was handed over to the jury. On September 25th, after only 4 hours of deliberation, the jury announced their verdict: not guilty. Leonard seemed dazed as the clerk read the verdict, which meant liberation after eight months’ imprisonment in the county jail awaiting trial. When Leonard’s attorney lifted him up from his seat, he flopped back into the chair. He later declared he wanted to go back to Kansas City and resume his job in the Wabash railroad yards. He stated former fellow employees had supported him from the start of the ordeal and had promised to help him come back.
However, true liberation for Leonard would be delayed, as he was to be taken to Olathe, where he would be tried on the robbery charge growing out of the holdup of Louis Breyfogle in early January. Leonard told reporters he was going to Olathe fully confident of acquittal. He was in fine humor as he left the jail cell he has occupied for the past eight months. He confidently told reporters he had entirely lost his craving for narcotics. “The jail has been far more effective than Dr. Uhls’ sanitarium,” he said. His confidence proved well-founded when, on November 20, the charges against him in Olathe were dismissed. Frank Leonard was now a free man, ready to move on with his life and put his association with Dr. Kenneth Uhls behind him.
The Wheels of Justice Turn Slowly
Leonard’s good fortunes proved to be of great concern to Uhls and his legal team, who were preparing their case for the appeal. The state supreme court received the appeal on November 24. Three months later, on March 4, 1925, the supreme court dismissed the appeal due to “failure by Dr. Uhls to complete the appeal procedure.” Upon learning this, Uhls’ attorney informed the court there was an oversight on his part and not his client’s and managed to get the appeal reinstated the next day. A new date for the appeal was set for June 2.
In the ensuing months Dr. Uhls’ wife, Charlotte, began to make a series of trips to her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, to visit friends and relatives. The request for yet another delay from the June session to October was granted when Uhls’ attorney submitted affidavits from two individuals claiming that Frank Leonard told them he killed Gibbs in Hutchinson. Leonard responded with a letter saying the two affiants were personal enemies seeking to ruin him. Additional legal moves, including attempts to have new evidence brought forth in new trials, would push the appeal to May of 1926, two years after Dr. Uhls’ conviction. During this entire time, Dr. Uhls remained free on bail. The wheels of justice were indeed turning slowly.
But luck would soon run out for Dr. Kenneth Uhls.
Coming Up:
The trial was over, and the twelve jurors were discharged. It was revealed it took seven hours of deliberation and six ballot votes before the jury reached the unanimous verdict: guilty of second-degree murder. Since he was cleared of the highway robbery charge in Overland Park, Uhls had expressed supreme confidence he would be similarly freed in Hutchinson. Numbed by the guilty verdict, Uhls and his family quietly left the courtroom. Judge J.R. Beeching, Dr. Uhls’ counsel, indicated he would file a motion for a new trial before Judge Fairchild. In the event the new trial was denied, Uhls would take an appeal to the state supreme court. Over in the adjoining county jail, Frank Leonard learned of the second-degree murder verdict. Showing no emotion, he remarked “If it was murder at all it was first degree.”
The motion for the new trial was submitted before Judge Fairchild on July 26. The motion was presented by former U.S. Senator, William H. Thompson, now a practicing attorney in Kansas City, Kansas. “The whole case of the state that Dr. Uhls must have been present when this crime was committed is based on the fact that he took a night trip into the state by motor car at the time of the crime,” said Senator Thompson. “The fact is the state has utterly failed to bring Uhls any closer to Hutchinson than Newton, and no nearer than Topeka at the time the crime must have been committed. Certainly, there has not been sufficient evidence presented to fill in all the links. We desire the opportunity to present evidence that will show absolutely that Dr. Uhls could not have been in Hutchinson at the time the crime was committed.” Senator Thompson also contended that the state’s claim that Gibbs was killed because Uhls wanted to get hold of the $102,000 of preferred stock Gibbs held in the Uhls clinic was shattered by the fact that when Gibbs was killed the stock had already been transferred to Uhls. “Gibbs was killed the night of December 29,” said Thompson. “The records show that at that time Uhls already had possession of this stock, it having been transferred to him ten days before that. Why in the name of goodness should he kill a man to get stock which he already had in his possession for ten days?”
Unfortunately for Uhls, even a power-house attorney and former six-year state senator could not provide the political or legal capital Uhls was seeking. Two days later, on July 28, Judge Fairchild overruled the motion for a new trial. On August 7, Dr. Kenn Uhls was sentenced to 25 years in the Kansas prison at Lansing. Uhls maintained a calm outward air as the sentence was passed, and blandly turned to talk to his attorney, J. R. Beeching, immediately afterward. He furnished a new $20,000 bond pending appeal. When asked by the court if he had anything to say, Uhls quietly declined.
Upon his sentencing, many editorials about Dr. Uhls and the criminal case were featured in several newspapers throughout Kansas. One editorial, appearing in the Newton Journal on August 29, 1924, declared:
Guilty or not guilty, Uhls has passed out of usefulness as a citizen and a doctor. It is a case of a desire for money to work out his ambition, in promoting a hospital with his name at the head, to become a ruling passion, until it grew into a lust, resorting to even murder to remove any obstacle. Doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, who are educated thru long culture courses without religion often become bigoted, cynical, over-ambitious conscienceless souls. Instead of helping, they are sharpened to prey on humanity.
The appeal to the state supreme court was filed on November 20, 1924. All the while, Dr. Uhls remained free on bond. Considered a flight risk, Uhls was prohibited from leaving the State of Kansas without the permission of the court, and he was required to check-in with his bail bondsman weekly.
O.P. Clinic To Be Rebranded
Meanwhile, plans were being prepared for the repurposing of the sanitarium in Overland Park under new ownership, consisting primarily by Hutchinson residents. Just what to do with the clinic that would bring some returns to the stockholders was a question. After weeks of negotiations, it was decided that on account of its beautiful location the clinic would be turned into a rest resort where tired businessmen and women, or anyone needing a quiet and serene surrounding, could stay in comfort and enjoy themselves. Plans were drawn to convert the grounds to a park that would feature a golf course. Horses would be kept for those who cared to ride them. Opportunities to garden vegetables and flowers would be provided. A world-class chef would be hired to prepare four-star meals. The building interiors would be completely refurnished and redecorated by both Hutchinson and Overland Park designers. It was anticipated the new resort would be open by mid-August.
The Frank Leonard Trial
The trial of Frank Leonard, also accused of murdering Gibbs, finally took place in September. The timing could not have been worse for Uhls, as his legal team was convinced that Leonard’s attorneys would point the finger of blame for the murder solely at Uhls. And that is precisely what they did. Leonard’s attorney, Williams H. Buck, declared in his opening statement that his client would take the stand “to tell the whole truth.” Among those truths were the statements, sworn under oath, that Uhls pressured Leonard into forging William Gibbs’ name on the stock certificates while a patient at the clinic, totally contradicting the story of the mysterious and never-located Charles Westerhaven, as presented in Uhls’ case. Leonard would also testify that Uhls took advantage of Leonard’s incapacitated state to try and persuade him to help rob a bank in Peabody, which Leonard said he was not comfortable doing. He also testified that Uhls left him in Peabody on the day of Gibbs’ murder, stating he had business to conduct in another town. Witnesses from the hotel in Peabody where the two were staying testified that they spoke with Leonard on the day of the murder, and that Dr. Uhls was not present at the time.
Perhaps the testimony most damaging to Uhls came on the second day of the trial. Attorney Buck told the jury that the day after Dr. Uhls had his client forge the names on the stock certificates, Leonard and another patient asked Dr. Uhls for a car to drive to Kansas City. Before leaving, Dr. Uhls handed Leonard a revolver with the wooden parts of the butt missing, and asked him to have a new handle put on it while in Kansas City. Gibbs was beaten to death with the butt end of a revolver, and wooden parts of the weapon were discovered at the crime scene.
After three days of testimony, the case was handed over to the jury. On September 25th, after only 4 hours of deliberation, the jury announced their verdict: not guilty. Leonard seemed dazed as the clerk read the verdict, which meant liberation after eight months’ imprisonment in the county jail awaiting trial. When Leonard’s attorney lifted him up from his seat, he flopped back into the chair. He later declared he wanted to go back to Kansas City and resume his job in the Wabash railroad yards. He stated former fellow employees had supported him from the start of the ordeal and had promised to help him come back.
However, true liberation for Leonard would be delayed, as he was to be taken to Olathe, where he would be tried on the robbery charge growing out of the holdup of Louis Breyfogle in early January. Leonard told reporters he was going to Olathe fully confident of acquittal. He was in fine humor as he left the jail cell he has occupied for the past eight months. He confidently told reporters he had entirely lost his craving for narcotics. “The jail has been far more effective than Dr. Uhls’ sanitarium,” he said. His confidence proved well-founded when, on November 20, the charges against him in Olathe were dismissed. Frank Leonard was now a free man, ready to move on with his life and put his association with Dr. Kenneth Uhls behind him.
The Wheels of Justice Turn Slowly
Leonard’s good fortunes proved to be of great concern to Uhls and his legal team, who were preparing their case for the appeal. The state supreme court received the appeal on November 24. Three months later, on March 4, 1925, the supreme court dismissed the appeal due to “failure by Dr. Uhls to complete the appeal procedure.” Upon learning this, Uhls’ attorney informed the court there was an oversight on his part and not his client’s and managed to get the appeal reinstated the next day. A new date for the appeal was set for June 2.
In the ensuing months Dr. Uhls’ wife, Charlotte, began to make a series of trips to her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, to visit friends and relatives. The request for yet another delay from the June session to October was granted when Uhls’ attorney submitted affidavits from two individuals claiming that Frank Leonard told them he killed Gibbs in Hutchinson. Leonard responded with a letter saying the two affiants were personal enemies seeking to ruin him. Additional legal moves, including attempts to have new evidence brought forth in new trials, would push the appeal to May of 1926, two years after Dr. Uhls’ conviction. During this entire time, Dr. Uhls remained free on bail. The wheels of justice were indeed turning slowly.
But luck would soon run out for Dr. Kenneth Uhls.
Coming Up:
- A supreme court decision is reached
- An ailing mother prompts a temporary parole
- A daring escape, and a warden in the hotseat
